Peroxide Formation by Pneumococcus and its Relation to Bacterial Oxidation-Reduction Reactions

AVERY AND MORGAN [1924] in confirming and extending the findings of M'Leod and Gordon [1922] have summarised the nature of the conditions which must be maintained in order that maximum amounts of peroxide may be produced in cultures of pneumococcus. No mention is made, however, of the effect of the various constituents of the culture media on the amount of peroxide formed, though experiments reported in a later paper [Avery and Neill, 1924, 2] show that peroxide is not formed by washed pneumococci, nor by extracts of washed organisms, unless there is present a substance of un- defined character which may be obtained from cell washi,igs, meat or yeast.